SAINT ROSE SLIPS PAST PACE, 63-60
PLEASANTVILLE, NY - The Pace women's basketball dropped a heartbreaker as the Golden Knights of Saint Rose escaped Pleasantville with a 63-60 win. The Setters drop to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Golden Knights improve to 2-3 and 1-3 in conference play on the season.
Both teams came out struggling to find their shot as St. Rose had a slim 11-9 lead midway through the opening period. The teams picked up the pace over the last six minutes of the half as St. Rose built up a six point lead with three and half minutes to go. A pair of free throws by Christine Fitzgerald (San Diego, CA/Arizona Western) and a jumper and trifecta by Brittany Huggins (Windsor, CT/Windsor) over the next minute of play cut the Setter deficit to one. Fitzgerald shot-clock beating three-pointer put the Setters ahead by one with just over 30 seconds left to play. A three-pointer by Suzana Sormaz and a rebound and lay-up by Emily Gottstein at the buzzer allowed the Golden Knights to take a 28-25 lead into halftime. Pace trailed by three despite shooting 9-for-28 (32.1%) from the field while the Golden Knight hit on 41.7% (10-for-24) from the field for the half.
The Setters stayed tough throughout the early part of the second half, keeping their deficit within five points before tying the game at 48 as Lisa Welsome (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) scored on a lay-up and nailed a three-pointer to knot the score with 8:54 remaining in the game. The teams would trade baskets over the next four minutes before Huggins would tie the game again this time at 53 with a shot from downtown with 4:41 left in the game. St. Rose responded with a three-point play by Ashley Anderson but Welsome countered with another three-pointer keeping the game knotted at 56 at the 3:20 mark. Fitzgerald would put Pace ahead by two with a layup at the 2:03 mark. The Golden Knights answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Sormaz and Elizabeth Buckley to take a four point lead with just under a minute left in the game. Fitzgerald would drive the lane and score on a layup with seven seconds left to cut the deficit to two. Buckley would hit one of two from the line but a Huggins three-point try at the buzzer would fall shot and the Golden Knights escaped with a three-point win over the Setters.
For the Setters, Welsome had her best game as a Setter, tallying a game-high 22 points along with a team-best eight boards, while shooting 9-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from downtown. Huggins chipped in 11 points, while Kristin Connolly (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) grabbed six rebounds. Fitzgerald finished with nine points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
For St. Rose, Sormaz shot 6-for-12 from long range, totaling 20 points, while Gottstein recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards. Anderson and Buckley each contributed 13 points.
Pace returns to action when they travel to Garden City, NY to
take on the Panthers of Adelphi University in a non-conference game
on Saturday, December 8 for a 3:00 pm tip-off.